Action ItemWith weak, unprincipled and/or corrupt politicians in the Senate, nothing is over until it's over and we still have many months to go. Drop a ​​note and/or call ​Senators Burr and Tillis to let them know your still watching and expect them expect them to hold the line on not having hearings on any of Obama's SCOTUS nominees.

Sending mail to our D.C. representatives is not the same as sending it to City Hall, and there some things we've learned about sending them "snail mail" that you need to know.

Senator Richard Burr— Mail (incl. postcards) sent to Sen. Burr's NC offices is rerouted by their local post offices to Washington, DC. It is run through scanners, etc, and then returned to the NC offices. This process adds about 20 days to the delivery time.

Therefore, any comments for Senator Burr on issues that are time-sensitive would reach him faster if they are
- faxed to him (202-228-2981)
- phoned (202-224-3154)
- emailed to him on his website https://www.burr.senate.gov/contact/email

Senator Thom Tillis — Sen. Tillis' Raleigh office is in a federal building. Any mail sent to his Raleigh office goes through scanners, there, and is not sent to D.C.

Congresswoman Renee Ellmers --Mail sent to Rep. Ellmers' Dunn office does not go to DC for screening.

Talking of last-minute bills, how about the Omnibus Spending Bill!? What a flurry of activity to propose and pass it in one week! The Republicans claimed that, again, they were caught by the year-end deadline. You know, that deadline that never seemed to hamper the Democrats? That deadline that comes every year at the same time? We the People are supposed to ignore that and pity the poor "leaders" of the country. Year after the year that pesky deadline jumps up out of nowhere? Of course not, and don't forget the only reason the Republicans "had" to pass a bill was because they ruled out "shutting the government down." That is, when we gave them the majority in the Senate, they announce their abdication of their constitutional obligation to protect us from tyranny by sending the president a bill he might veto.

Officially known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, it is a $1.149 trillion, 2,009 page bill. It should have been an opportunity for conservatives to include key conservative measures. However, the Act lacks provisions for defunding executive action amnesties or defunding Planned Parenthood. It does not address sanctuary cities. It does not defund the Syrian refugee program. Instead it includes an ineffective rider tweaking the visa waiver program.

Liberals and the unions got a victory in a 2-year delay in the Obamacare Cadillac tax. The Cadillac tax is a tax on the most expensive employer-sponsored health care plans. Many union contracts include these plans. The act also permanently weakens the tax by making future payments of the Cadillac tax deductible as a business expense.

Many conservative riders were proposed but not adopted, such as a funding prohibition on the FCC from implementing net neutrality. Many conservative riders touted by the Appropriations Committee as concessions to conservatives are pre-existing riders which have survived thoughout Republican and Democrat control. Another rider, the lifting of the 4-decade ban on the export of unrefined crude oil, is good policy. However, it does not outweigh the bad riders.

Senator Tillis voted for the bill. Senator Burr voted against the bill. However, Senator Burr is up for re-election in 2016 and needs conservative votes. The bill passed in the Senate 65 to 33. His vote was not needed for passage.

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